By
Pastor Keith Tipple
…when I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom…For I determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. _1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Paul
wrote this letter to the Corinthians talking about the power of God in the
Cross.
Everything
happened at the Cross and it is what makes each one of us who we are. Before we
come to the Cross, we are dead. Everything before Christ died on the Cross
points to it, and everything after the Cross points back to it.
In
the Cross is the power of God to our salvation and it is the gospel of Christ
Jesus.
…the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth… _Romans 1:16
When
we each search our hearts, we find that there is always sin in the flesh that tries
to drag us down. The greatest sin in man is the sin of unbelief. To be
unbelieving towards God is most grievous to His heart. The sin that will not be
forgiven man is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The
Cross is described by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53;
…He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. _Isaiah 53:5ff
The
Cross is the central message of the Bible. It is to the Cross that we cling and
are saved. When we come to Christ, we come to the One that is the power that
moves us from sinners to saints, from darkness to light and from death to
light.
Christ
by the sacrifice made us righteous and no longer are we dead. This is the power
that saves us, even the Cross and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? …and such were some of you:
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus… _1 Corinthians 6:9-11